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was walking Camino Norte 2016 but that’s so 2016

Primitivo Stage 9: O Hospital to Azrúa

We slept a little late after being plied with booze and food by our hospitable hosts. Slept in best bed in Spain. We lingered over breakfast so long our host questioned our motivation to continue but out we went into cool sunshine of Galicia. Its unseasonably cool by about 5 degrees and much drier than the previous 3 weeks – both things we are grateful for.

We ran into a Colombian woman that we had met yesterday on way out of Lugo almost immediately. It’s surprising how warmly you greet the familiarity of a face even when you only passed a few moments together. You learn where they are from, where their journey started, how many Caminos they have walked and when they expect to arrive in Santiago. We also ran into our Milanese friends and agreed to have a beer in Santiago.

Countryside continues to be exceedingly pleasant with eucalyptus groves and nice wide well maintained paths. We joined the French Route at Melide, about halfway through our day, and the volume of pilgrims increased by 10x in a matter of moments. The number of bars and restaurants that cater to us scaled proportionally so it was not as jarring as we imagined.

Strava link
Demographics also skewed dramatically. The French route attracts lots of young people whole Primitivo was most often a second (or third or fourth) Camino for a retired crowd. More bikes on trail this afternoon on trail than we had seen in previous month.

We had a bit of rain in afternoon but while hard for a few moments did not persist. Next few days look to be a bit wetter than we have become accustomed too. We have great rain gear so it’s not a huge deal but it can be a morale killer.

After last nights wonderful accommodation we have averaged down a bit into a pension in Arzua at 40€ for night for a clean room with a long narrow terraza to watch the late afternoon rain while sipping on enormous Radlers from large plastic cups. Luxury of different sort. The shower was so small I felt like an astronaut on ISS. My bum kept adjusting the temperature and flow of water that made the experience even more memorable.

We have two short stages of about 20km each left. Hopefully, we have laundry tomorrow. Diana had pants that were dirty enough that she was unwilling to pack in her rucksack leaving only the option to wear them. It’s very rural so while we pong there is usually something smellier to stand next to.